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Jaron Schneider
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Articles written by Jaron Schneider

Want People to View Your Videos? New Data Confirms the Future is Social

While many of us are dedicated to producing great video content, we often neglect to think about how that content will be consumed by the masses. I spend so much time producing, directing, writing and editing video that by the time it's done, I neglect to give distribution as much consideration as I should. A recent study performed by Harris Interactive shows, somewhat unsurprisingly, that video is moving away from search and is more tightly tied to social sharing.

Adobe Scoops Up Mobile Design Firm Thumb Labs

Adobe looks like they are scooping up New York design firm Thumb Labs, a company with quite a stacked resume of well-designed mobile apps. We are gathering that Adobe has the intent to have them join the team at their other recently acquired company Behance, likely to make an expanded mobile experience to their upcoming Creative Cloud. Adobe announced the partnership via Twitter: "A warm welcome to our friends at @thumblabs, who are joining the @Behance team to help connect the creative world."

Panasonic's DMC-GX1 Micro Four Thirds Camera Price Drops Again: $239

There haven't been too many raging deals lately, but if you're in the market for a new micro four thirds camera, the Panasonic Lumix DMC-GX1 has dropped to basically ludicrously low pricing. I'm not even entirely sure how Panasonic is making a profit at this price point. Just a few weeks ago it was listed for $300, but now it's down to $239. It's not that the camera is bad either, as reviews have been pretty positive. At this price though, it's not much of a risk.

Fstoppers Reviews the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM Prime Lens

Sigma, hot on the heels of the outstandingly successful 35mm f/1.4 Art lens, has been releasing and announcing new lenses in their Global Vision realignment like crazy. Recently they released the 30mm f/1.4 lens for APS-C cameras, and I had high expectations for it after being told that the president of Sigma was aiming it to meet the performance set by the 35mm. So did it?

Tackle Exposure, Skin, Eyes, Sharpening & More in This 5 Minute Retouch

This might be an extreme take on the all-too-common client request of "get it done quickly," but it serves as an excellent benchmark of what can be done in a short amount of time. Odds are, you won't ever be asked to do a full post-production retouch in such a short amount of time, but the idea behind what Aaron Nace of PHLEARN is showing here is solid: with the right tools and knowledge you can streamline your workflow with extreme effectiveness.

The Story of How Law Enforcement Uses Photoshop to Fight Crime

Though we all are pretty familiar with how Photoshop has helped make us better photographers and digital artists, what we don't often think about is how the program has affected non-artistic segments of society. Today, in honor of National Police Week, Adobe has decided to show how law enforcement uses Adobe Photoshop to help combat crime. It's the kind of thing we all have seen on the television series CSI for years, but never really believed was real.

Samsung "Artfully" Photoshops Galaxy S4 in Place of iPhone in a Stock Image

Instead of hiring a photographer to shoot original images, Samsung has recently been caught in the act of "artfully" (read: shamelessly) replacing an iPhone with a Galaxy S4 in an advertising campaign. It's not that they can't do this kind of thing as it's not illegal, but more the fact that they did it at all, and that it was over an original image featuring their main competitor. Really Samsung?

Think Tank Photo Announces New Large Capacity Rolling Bag

Think Tank fans, rejoice! The Santa Rosa, CA-based bag manufacturer has just announced the Logistics Manager 30, a high capacity roller bag with a lage, roomy internal dimensions of 13.75”W x 27.5”H x 8.25 – 10”D (35 x 70 x 21 – 25.5cm) that will allow it to hold multiple combinations of cameras and lenses, lighting gear such as strobes and reflectors and accessories of all kinds.

Fstoppers Reviews the Benro S2 and S4 Video Monopods

Monopods, once really only useful in a handful of situations, have evolved into irreplaceable members of our creative arsenals due to the advent of high quality video being produced in DSLRs. The idea of a “video monopod” might frighten video purists, but there are those such as Patrick Hall and myself who swear by them. Manfrotto’s version was a fantastic foray into the medium, but slightly pricey. Benro recently released their more affordable versions, and I was more than ready to see if they were able to hold their own.

UPDATED: Those Bizarre Adobe CC Squares Aren't The Desktop Icons... They're "Box" Logos

UPDATED 05/14/13 9:50 AM PT: I have received word from a source that the reason these original totems were made were effectively replacements for the box imagery that Adobe will no longer be producing since... well... there are no more boxes. If you recall, CS6 had a lot of imagery surrounding faces (just look at the cover of Adobe Photoshop CS6). Moving to Adobe CC, the team wanted to try a different angle that was more expressive, abstract and fun.

Have Money to Burn? Canon's New 200-400mm f/4 L USM Announced for $11,800

Canon has announced their answer to Nikon's 200-400mm with their new 200-400mm f/4 L USM. It boasts a built-in 1.4x extender which, with the flip of a switch, extends the lens to a 280-560mm f/5.6. Measuring in at 5.0 x 14.4 inches and 127.7 oz, the specs on this beast look amazing, but the price tag is a little surprising. It's expected to retail for $11,800, nearly twice what Nikon's is selling for.

Not Happy With Your Depth of Field? You Can Adjust It In Post

Of course many of us want to always nail a shot in camera, but sometimes things happen. Maybe it looked great on your camera's LCD, but entirely different once you got it on your computer. Maybe your sensor is too small and shallow DOF is hard to nail. It's for these cases that Aaron Nace at PHLEARN does tutorials like this one, where he shows how to adjust depth of field in post.

Space Oddity: Chris Hadfield Makes First Ever Music Video from Space

This is one of those projects that is almost beyond words. Astronaut Chris Hadfield shot this music video to express his feelings of leaving the International Space Station, and it's basically the coolest possible way to go out. If you haven't yet seen this (which you probably have but heck, it's so amazing I just had to share), quit reading and hit the play button. Your life needs this music video.

Olympus Announces New Flagship Camera: PEN E-P5

Olympus is following up their hugely successful PEN line with an all new member: the PEN E-P5, a digital update of a classic film camera designed new tech and performance advancements. Designed for photographers looking for superior image quality in a portable body, the PEN E-P5 delivers a unique shooting experience for photographers looking to keep things compact, including offering a shutter speed of 1/8000th of a second, a first for the compact camera market.

Watch Adobe Explain Projects Mighty & Napoleon

We learned a lot about Adobe at Adobe MAX earlier this week. We learned that they are moving to a cloud-based system that will remove support for perpetual licenses. We learned about new features that are really something special. And we also learned just a little bit about Project Mighty and Project Napoleon, Adobe's push into hardware through a pen and ruler that link to the digital world.

Behind the Scenes of a Dark and Dramatic Portrait

Sometimes you want a portrait that just screams drama and emotion. Sometimes that emotion might be joy, other times you may want to portray a sort of dark, brooding atmosphere. In this tutorial by PHLEARN, Aaron Nace walks you through a method he chose to turn a daytime portrait into something much darker.

Why You Should Hate Adobe's Creative Cloud

Ok, so we've covered why you should love the Creative Cloud: it gives you access to everything Adobe everywhere you go. It gives you all the outstanding programs at your fingertips. It is taking connectivity to a whole new level for creative collaboration. Updates are instantaneous. But all that aside, it's a stifling, expensive system that might be forcing you into something you don't want.

Fstoppers Discussion: About the Outcry Over the New Adobe Creative Cloud

Adobe Creative Cloud, in lieu of Adobe Creative Suite 7, has some great new features but also some hotly contested issues including the loss of disc support and move to a monthly payment feature for all future software. Mike Kelley, Rebecca Britt and I (Jaron Schneider) discuss what this means for creatives and why it may not be the big deal some are trying to make it out to be.

Behance Brings Social Integration to Adobe Creative Cloud

When we first discussed Adobe’s acquisition of Behance earlier this year, there was speculation that the purpose was to add social to the Creative Cloud. Adobe has proved that speculation correct, as Behance plays a pivotal role in Adobe’s new CC-branded software with live feeds to your Behance buddies.

What is Camera Shake Reduction and How Does it Work?

Adobe Photoshop’s new feature “Camera Shake Reduction” has been has been carrying a ton of hype, likely due to the publicity Adobe has been putting behind it since last year (and more recently just a couple weeks ago). However, what it actually is and how it works is somewhat misunderstood. Many were prepared to hate the program, thinking it a panacea for all bad, blurry images. It’s not the all-healing-blur-fixing-magic-of-the-gods some of you might think it is, but it’s still really flipping amazing.